Article feeding and treating apparatus

ABSTRACT

An onion skinning machine comprising a wheel or like having onion air-blasting chambers, a hopper to contain onions, endless conveyor means to convey onions from the hopper to the air blasting wheel, and means to remove excess onions from the conveyor.

United States Patent 11 1 Parsons 1 1 Apr. 3, 1973 [54] ARTICLE FEEDING AND TREATING [56] References Cited APPARATUS UNlTED STATES PATENTS [75] Inventor: Leslie Arthur Parsons, Burry Port, 3 485 278 12/1969 P 146/43 R arson South England 3,623,524 11/1971 Buck ....l46/43 R [73] Assignee: Les. Parsons 8: Sons (Engineers) 2,445,831 1948 Hemmeler. --l Limited, Burry Port, South Wale 2,766,794 10/1956 Odale ...l46/43 X Great Britain 4 3,485,279 12 1969 Parsons..... ....l46/43 R 3,602,279 8/1971 Raaij ....l46/43 R [22] F1led: Oct. 26, 1970 3,606,917 9/1971 Orlowski... ....146/43 R 2,682,287 6/1954 Rollins ....l46/43 R [21] APPl' 831812 2,992,666 7/1961 Cagnoni ..146/43 R [30] Foreign Application Pri it D t Primary Examiner--Willie G. Abercrombie Attorney-Alexander & Dowell Nov. 5, 1969 Great Britain ..54,l50/69 1 Mar. 6, l970 Great Bntaln [0,772/70 [57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl ..99/5l6, 99/584 An Onion S inning machine comprising a wheel or like [51] I t. Cl. ..A23n 7/00 having onion air-blasting Chambers, a pp to [58] Field of Search ..l46/43, 32, 51 min onions, endless conveyor means to n y o ns from the hopper to the air blasting wheel, and means to remove excess onions-from the conveyor.

11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPM I975 3,724,362

sum 1 [IF-4 ARTICLE FEEDING AND TREATING APPARATUS This invention relates to the skinning of onions.

The invention includes the basic principle of skinning onions described in the specification of British Pat. No. 1,096,377, according to which a small onion content is fed into a chamber into which a blast of fluid (e.g. air) is introduced such that the onions spin or move freely within the chamber whereby the skins are removed.

The object of the invention is to provide means whereby onions can be automatically conveyed out of a hopper and fed into a succession of such chambers.

By way of example a machine embodying the invention will be described which is intended for feeding reject onions from a previous onion skinning operation to a secondary skinning device. Thus the machine deals with onions which have been topped and tailed by said previous operation, but for various reasons are insufficiently prepared for human consumption, such as:

a. Some brown skin left adhering.

b. Grub-marked layers of flesh.

c. Partially decayed layer of flesh.

d. Half brown half white layer of flesh.

e. Layer of papery type flesh.

The machine is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a machine made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in the direction of arrow B on FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section on line AA on FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the lower end of FIG. 2 with a cover plate removed.

A hopper to contain onions is rigidly mounted on an angle iron framework 1 1. The shape of the hopper is generally conical with the small end lowermost. At the top and bottom of this framework transverse shafts 14, are mounted in self-aligning bearings. On each shaft 14, 15 there are mounted the pairs of sprockets 16, 17 spaced apart and centrally mounted in the frame 11. Mounted on sprockets 16, 17 is a conveyor comprising two endless chains 18, 19 having an upper onion carrying run and a lower return run. Mounted on these chains in pairs, serving as an onion carrying device, are onion carrying elements in the form of hooks or jigs 20 spaced at 3 inch intervals on each chain. The chains are kept in tension by spring loaded skid 21 which is common to both chains, and which is carried by a lever 22 acted on by spring 23. A baffle plate 24 is fitted inside the hopper to prevent the bulk of the onions from resting on the moving carriers.

The hopper is of a generally tapered shape and the lower end of the upper run of the conveyor runs up through one inclined wall of the hopper at an angle of 35-55, e.g. 45, to the vertical to pick up the onions out of the hopper and carry them one on each pair of complementary jigs to the top of the conveyor. The jigs are arranged in pairs, the jigs in each pair being side by side spaced apart transversely of the conveyor. The jigs have approximately V-shaped openings 24 in each pair of which an onion is seated.

The vee-shaped section of jigs 20 serves a dual purpose:

1. It ensures that an onion is located and not knocked off by knock-off devices.

Lil

2. It ensures that the onion cannot be rolled back over the top of thejig whilst meeting the resistance of the slitting knives.

By reference to FIG. 3 on the drawing it will be noted that the conveyor chains 18, 19 with jigs are guided in three ways:

a. A chain bed 27 is fitted with low friction material 29. This prevents sag in the chain.

b. To prevent lateral movement outwards and away from each other, side guides 50 which are lined withlow friction material 51.

c. To prevent lateral movement inwards there is a low friction center guide 52. i

Two stainless steel strips 54, mounted one on each side, serve the dual purpose of covering the chain and forming a guide for surplus onions on the jigs to fall back to the hopper.

The conveyorchains 18, 19 are driven via a chain 56 from sprocket 57 on shaft 58 to sprocket 59 on top conveyor drive shaft 14.

The shaft 58 carries an endless moving device which, in this example, is a wheel 61 provided with pocketsor chambers to receive the onions from the jigs. These pockets receive jets of air. The wheel 61 is similar to apparatus 11,6 of specification No. 1,096,377. This wheel is located adjacent the upper end of the con.- veyor, i.e. at an. onion receiving position which is the same as the onion delivery position of the conveyor.

On the lower section of the frame there are mounted two eccentric rollers 63, 64, positioned in the hopper parallel to the chains 18-19 and jigs 20; these turn outwardly from each other at their upper parts. The rollers are mounted on axes that are parallel to each other above the conveyor chains on either side of the jigs 20. The eccentricity is such that a minimum distance of one and a half inches and a maximum of two inches between rollers is achieved for normal pickling onions. These rollers are mounted on what is, in effect, the inclined bottom of the hopper and are driven from the bottom conveyor shaft 15 via sprockets 66, 67 and shaft 68, bevel gears 69 and spur gears 70, 71 in mesh with each other. The upper ends of the rollers are mounted in bearings 65.

The rollers keep the onions lying adjacent to them agitated, causing them to fall between the rollers and in effect maintain a line of onions to be picked up by jigs 20 on their re-entry into hopper.

A wavy bar 73 is provided in the hopper approximately parallel to the conveyor above the rollers 63, 64, and is reciprocated in the direction of its length by a cam or eccentric 74 on shaft 68. The bar is of sinuous shape in the direction such that it criss-crosses a line in a vertical plane parallel with the line of motion of the conveyor between the vertical planes of the jigs at a short distance above-the conveyor, i.e. so that it ap;

pears sinuous when regarded in a direction normal to the plane of the conveyor. The bar moves or stirs the onions over the conveyor to avoid jamming or bridging of the onions in the hopper and to ensure that an onion is caught by each of the pairs of jigs or hooks 20. The upper end of the bar reciprocates in a bearing 75 Usually the distance between each two pairsof jigs coming out of the hopper is full of onions, sometimes 4, 3 or 2 according to the size of the onions. The onions vary in size, e.g. from l8 mm. to 45 mm., even in one supposed grading size. For peak efficiency an onion should be on each pair ofjigs, and it is also desirable to have only one on every pair of jigs to obtain perfect synchronization of feed to the skinning container wheel 61, and to obtain maximum skinning efficiency.

To ensure achieving the foregoing conditions there are two knock-off devices to knock off surplus onions:

1. A static abutment device 76.

2. A two or more armed transverse mechanically operated and timed star wheel or blade 77.

The static device 76 is a blade made out of a low friction material and is sited between the parallel conveyor chains, taking the place of a portion of the center guide 52. It is raised about one quarter inch above the level of the top plate 54 and its upper edge between the conveyor chains is radiused. As the jigs carry the onions over this static knock-off device because of its higher level and radiused shape, being above that of the top plate 54, onions other than the one lying in the apex of the openings 24 of jig 20 usually fall away to one side or the other and return to the hopper. However, it sometimes occurs that an onion is riding in such a positions prior to the onions next to the jig 20, that it does not get displaced. To deal with this possibility a transverse blade 77 is fitted. This blade is driven from the top conveyor shaft 14 via sprockets 79, 80 and chain 81 and bevels 82. It is timed to pass immediately behind one pair of jigs 20, and because of the forward movement of these jigs it crosses the path of the following jig in a transverse diagonal direction, thereby knocking off any onion or onions other than the one lying adjacent to the jig. Wheel 80 is mounted on a shaft 84 driven by sprocket 85 and chain 86 which passes over a sprocket 87 on shaft 14 and around a free running sprocket 88.

Means may be provided, if required, to slit the onion around its profile. This is performed by one or more slitting knives 90, 91. As shown there are two knives, an upper and lower. These are carried on their respective holders 92, 93 which pivot about fulcrums 94, 95. The holders are spring loaded by rubber bands 96, 97. The slitting is effected by the onion being carried between the two slitting knives, which are tensioned towards each other by the rubber bands 96, 97. A plate 100 has a slide 101 which is mounted on a frictionless slide 102. The plate 100 engages the onion on the outlet side of the knives 'and prevents the onion from skidding forward whilst the slitting knives slide down the back of the onion.

A rotary dislodging spider or star wheel 104 is timed so that its arms pass between each successive pair of the apex of jigs 20 so that should an onion tend to be wedged between the two jigs 20, it is freed to allow it to roll away as the jig comes over top dead center on sprocket 16. As the onion rolls away it is guided by transfer guides 105 and onion guide bar 107 towards one of the containers in the skinning wheel 61. Rapid transfer is assisted by air jet tube 107. Air is not required at speeds up to about 200 onions per minute. Final guidance to the wheel 61 is assisted by a stationary onion guide 108 in the form of a rubber flap. The ensuing operation is the skinning of the onion in the wheel A large quantity of onions of considerably varying sizes can be placed in the hopper and are fed to the conveyor jigs so that there is no hindrance of feed from start to finish.

onion carrying elements, the elements of each pair The onions can be transferred from the conveyor to skinning wheel 61 at high speeds.

The skinned onions fall out of the pockets of wheel 61 on to a helical conveyor 110 for inspection. Waste falls on to a lower conveyor 111. These conveyors are driven by sprockets and chains as shown.

A motor 112 drives a shaft 113 through variable speed drive 119. The shaft 113 carries a sprocket 114. This sprocket drives a chain 115 which in turn drives a sprocket 116 and this drives sprocket 117 by chain 118. The shaft 113 also carries a sprocket 120 which drives a chain 121, sprocket 57 and shaft 58.

The sprocket 116 drives the conveyor 110 through gears 123. Sprocket l 17 drives the conveyor 1 11.

If the machine is to be used for skinning untreated onions it will be necessary to add topping and tailing knives as described in the previously mentioned specification No. 1,096,377.

I claim:

1. An onion skinning machine comprising an endless moving device provided with a plurality of open chambers for successively receiving onions at an onion receiving position and discharging them successively at an onion discharging position, means to subject the onion in each chamber to a blast of fluid therein whereby the onion moves freely in the fluid blast as the chamber moves from said receiving position to said discharging position, a hopper to contain onions, an endless conveyor moving at a lower part thereof up through the hopper and located at an upper part thereof adjacent said onion receiving position, said conveyor having an upper onion-carrying run and a lower return run and comprising a plurality of onion carrying devices, each device comprising a pair of being spaced apart from each other widthwise of the conveyor and upstanding therefrom on the upper run of the conveyor, the pairs being spaced apart from each other lengthwise of the conveyor, means operating between successive adjacent devices for removing excess onions from the conveyor so as to leave only one onion on each carrying device along an upper part of the upper run, means for guiding each onion as it leaves the conveyor at the end of the upper run to enter one of said chambers, and means to drive said conveyor and said endless moving device in coordination with each other to ensure that successive chambers receive the onions carried by successive carrying devices.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the onion carrying elements are hook-like jigs located side by side and spaced apart from each other transversely of the conveyor which latter comprises separate endless chains.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising a pair of counter-rotating rollers mounted in the hopper eccentrically on axes that are spaced apart parallel to each other above the lower part of the conveyor and lie one on either side of the onion carrying elements so as to maintaina line of onions falling between the rollers to be picked up by said elements.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conveyor is at an angle of 3555 to the vertical and the onion carrying elements having approximately V- shaped openings in their upper sides.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 having an elongated sinuous bar in the hopper which is parallel to the rollers between two vertical planes which contain the onion carrying elements and criss-crosses a line in a vertical plane parallel with the line of motion of the conveyor and means for oscillating the bar lengthwise thereof.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means operating between successive adjacent devices comprises an abutment in the path of the conveyor engageable by the onions to dislodge any onions on the conveyor not seated in the onion carrying elements.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means operating between successive adjacent devices comprises a rotary blade member rotating on an axis parallelto the upper run of the conveyor and means for timing the motion of this memberwith the movement of the conveyor so that a blade of the member moves between successive onion carrying devices to remove onions from the conveyor not seated in the devices.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, having at least one cutter below and adjacent to the line of upward movement of the jigs so as to cut the skin of the onions.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein two knives are provided respectively above and below the line of upward movement of the jigs, said knives being held resiliently towards each other so as to cut the skins of the onions.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, having a contact member urged resiliently towards the outlet side of the cutter to engage the onion while it is being cut.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, having a helical inspection conveyor receiving onions from said endless moving device. 

1. An Onion skinning machine comprising an endless moving device provided with a plurality of open chambers for successively receiving onions at an onion receiving position and discharging them successively at an onion discharging position, means to subject the onion in each chamber to a blast of fluid therein whereby the onion moves freely in the fluid blast as the chamber moves from said receiving position to said discharging position, a hopper to contain onions, an endless conveyor moving at a lower part thereof up through the hopper and located at an upper part thereof adjacent said onion receiving position, said conveyor having an upper onion-carrying run and a lower return run and comprising a plurality of onion carrying devices, each device comprising a pair of onion carrying elements, the elements of each pair being spaced apart from each other widthwise of the conveyor and upstanding therefrom on the upper run of the conveyor, the pairs being spaced apart from each other lengthwise of the conveyor, means operating between successive adjacent devices for removing excess onions from the conveyor so as to leave only one onion on each carrying device along an upper part of the upper run, means for guiding each onion as it leaves the conveyor at the end of the upper run to enter one of said chambers, and means to drive said conveyor and said endless moving device in coordination with each other to ensure that successive chambers receive the onions carried by successive carrying devices.
 2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the onion carrying elements are hook-like jigs located side by side and spaced apart from each other transversely of the conveyor which latter comprises separate endless chains.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising a pair of counter-rotating rollers mounted in the hopper eccentrically on axes that are spaced apart parallel to each other above the lower part of the conveyor and lie one on either side of the onion carrying elements so as to maintain a line of onions falling between the rollers to be picked up by said elements.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conveyor is at an angle of 35-55* to the vertical and the onion carrying elements having approximately V-shaped openings in their upper sides.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 having an elongated sinuous bar in the hopper which is parallel to the rollers between two vertical planes which contain the onion carrying elements and criss-crosses a line in a vertical plane parallel with the line of motion of the conveyor and means for oscillating the bar lengthwise thereof.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means operating between successive adjacent devices comprises an abutment in the path of the conveyor engageable by the onions to dislodge any onions on the conveyor not seated in the onion carrying elements.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means operating between successive adjacent devices comprises a rotary blade member rotating on an axis parallel to the upper run of the conveyor and means for timing the motion of this member with the movement of the conveyor so that a blade of the member moves between successive onion carrying devices to remove onions from the conveyor not seated in the devices.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, having at least one cutter below and adjacent to the line of upward movement of the jigs so as to cut the skin of the onions.
 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein two knives are provided respectively above and below the line of upward movement of the jigs, said knives being held resiliently towards each other so as to cut the skins of the onions.
 10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, having a contact member urged resiliently towards the outlet side of the cutter to engage the onion while it is being cut.
 11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, having a helical inspection conveyor receiving onions from said endless moving device. 